image source: Parque El Óvalo - Pamplona Alta (Lima, Perú)

The open call of the A--D 2022 Global Challenge has delivered amazing results: we have received 89 completed architectural proposals led by inspiring communities from around the world

The A--D Global Challenge is not your usual architectural competition that recognizes the most innovative design or technical solutions. Our goal is to recognise practices which align with our Do-it-Together (DiT) principles. Ultimately, the Global Challenge showcases the best DiT practices and helps accelerate their development.

In the past four weeks, six members of our board of representatives - Carly Althof, Ana Asensio, Sarah Essbai, Jayesh Garnesh, Arezoo Mohebpour and Marta Petteni - joined the Stage I review. In the Stage II review, A--D founders Rob Breed and Changfang Luo synthesized the results of the Stage I review and identified 59 eligible entries, now published on the A--D website, of which 26 longlisted projects were selected.

All submissions were reviewed based on the four submission criteria of the 2022 Global Challenge: Team capacity, Community involvement, Architectural added value and Urgency. The Criteria ‘Team capacity and Community involvement’, however, weighed more during our review process since we believe that the best DiT practices stem from the needs and aspirations of the communities. In these practices, the professionals are internalized (or local to the team), rather than being external consultants.

Some entries had better written stories and images, so one of our challenges was to not judge a project solely based on the appearance, but to go deeper into what each project has achieved, its team capacity and, above all, its potential. The longlist includes projects that have demonstrated what works, are aware of their shortcomings and thus ask for much needed support.

Below are the longlisted projects that represent the best DiT practices at different scales, in different locations/ contexts and of different subjects. These projects are currently in the final stage of review:

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Safai Centre, Delhi, India  
La Villa Pesquera del Crash Boat, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Barrios que Cuidan,Independencia - Lima, Peru
Extramuros, Año Nuevo, Lima, Peru
Casa De La Cultura, Arte y Paz, Jacobo Arenas, San José del Guaviare, Colombia
Local Comunitario A.F. 10 de Julio, Lima, Peru
Kakr Buluh Awar, Deli Serdang, Indonesia
Bridge to the forest - Puente al bosque, Boruca, Costa Rica
Casa Comunal de la Isla de Portete / Ecuador, Portete, Ecuador
Kinatco Community Centre Project : Phase II, Mathare 3A Slums, Nairobi, Kenya
Casa Verde, San Juan de Uraba, Colombia
San Blas Social Action Center, Caracas, Venezuela
Hilltop School, Hyderabad, India
The Women's House of Imloul, Imloul, Morocco
El jardin de Adele, Encañada, Peru
Warka Village Cameroon, Cameroon
Community Learning Center Corralones, Sacaba, Bolivia
KCDC - Kyaninga Child Development Centre, Fort Portal, Uganda
Hostels for girls, Iringa region, Tanzania
The Baitussalam School, Jacobabad, Pakistan
Mini-Cyclone Shelter for Vulnerable Communities, Bhola, Bangladesh
Book House, Hunan, China
Reviving Khargerd Adobe Village, Khaaf, Iran
Old Vicarage Youth Centre, Bradford, United Kingdom
OA Bamboo House, Various locations, Malaysia
KuNa, Construyendo Sueños, El Astillero, Tola, Nicaragua

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We are very impressed by the increasing number of submissions this year that resonate with the DiT principles. We are learning so much from all the different practices rooted in different cultures and localities: projects that have the potential to strengthen a sense of place among communities; projects that restore the old soul that was shaken by globalization, natural, man made disasters or climate change; projects that create a place for exchanging different perspectives; projects that create added values through global-local collaborations.

It is our wish to promote and support as many projects as possible, and we hope, in the coming years, to further open up the selection process so that many more projects can benefit from the resources offered by our A--D network.

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More info about the 2022 Global Challenge #GC2022
More info about the GC2022 Sponsorship Opportunities